


she-wolf

by bitterbones



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Blow Jobs, Breeding Kink, Creampie, Cunnilingus, F/M, Fluff, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, Pregnancy, Roman AU, Smut, fic for 200 followers on twitter, mentions of slavery (period typical), misogynistic language, sex work mentions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:15:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28863150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitterbones/pseuds/bitterbones
Summary: Rey is prostitute working out of the PompeiiLupanarin the year 78 AD. When ImperialLegatusKylo Ren spots her on the streets he finds himself instantly infatuated, unable to look away from her beauty and wild eyes.“You are a beautiful, spirited woman, Rey. Like I said previously; I see much of myself in you and I want to help you! Yes, I admit I find you frustratingly attractive but I am a man, not a beast, and I will not act only any baser desire I feel unless you indicate to me that it is also what you want. Let me help you. Let me put some goodness back into this horrible world.”
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 54
Kudos: 189





	1. will of the gods

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter (anticipating 3 to 4) of my celebratory 200 follower fic! I did a poll and 'breeding kink' won, but I decided to add a historical twist. Hope this pleases everyone!
> 
> I will include a word bank with the English translations of Latin words at the end of each chapter.
> 
> Twitter: [x](https://twitter.com/bitt3rbones)
> 
> Tumblr: [x](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/sordidbones)

_ Mensis October. 26. 79 AD _

Word came to  _ Legatus _ Kylo Ren through the whisperings of his servants. Murmurings of the apocalypse beginning from the mountains around Pompeii. Initially he had ignored them, the slaves loved to titter, but as the day progressed he sensed an elevated tension in them which was unusual. 

It was early evening, and he was taking his supper of pheasant roast, boiled vegetables, and mulled wine on his balcony. His apartments overlooked the rushing waters of the Tiber which was dotted with fishing vessels and small trading ships. He watched the tops of the waves tint orange in the setting sun, and wondered when the mighty river might carry him away from Rome once more. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a few faint raps on the folding doors which partitioned him from his rooms. 

“ _ Dominus _ ?” One of his servants inquired softly. He was always gentle with them, he had once lived a life very similar to their own, but still they were afraid. 

“Yes?” He lowered his fork, a carrot was speared on its prongs, untouched. 

The slave emerged onto the balcony with a sealed letter in her hands, she passed it to him and explained, “A message from Legatus Hux, strange news from the west, the courier said.” 

Kylo used his dinner knife to break the seal and unfolded the yellowed paper. There were no formalities as would normally precede the crux of the text, only a scant few, vague words penned out by a shaky hand. The scribe had been perturbed it seemed. 

_ Fire in the earth and sky. The mountain was the hidden mouth of Dis Pater. The Gods are angry. Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Oplontis are gone in the ash. Orcus has come to the south The Emperor has to be informed, bring legions, we will need them to dig the bodies from the ashes.  _

By the end of the short missive Kylo’s hands had begun to shake. It was too vague for him to draw any real conclusions, but still his heart was seized by fear. Pompeii? Herculaneum? Gone? What could that mean? What did it mean for Legatus Kylo Ren, what did it mean for—

“Rey,” he breathed her name and the letter slipped from between his fingers, falling into the food forgotten on his plate. 

_ Inform the Emperor _ , Hux had said. His letter must have come from Salernum or Surrentum by the sea. The mountain could only refer to Vesuvius. All of these things swirled in Kylo’s mind, but in the end he could only think of one thing, only speak her name softly, much to the confusion of his servant. 

“ _ Rey _ .” 

_ Mensis Maius. 12. 78 AD _

He first met her on the streets of Pompeii. He was visiting, vacationing away from the legion and the northern front in Germania. The air was warm and humid, the distant sea deep and blue. On the horizon the peak of Vesuvius loomed protectively, peering down on the peoples of the western Italian coast like the ringed eye of Jupiter himself. 

He was returning to the House of Julia Felix where he rented a lavish apartment on the aureus of the roman legion. The baths had warmed his pale skin, leaving him flushed in a way that clearly identified his half-Gaulic heritage to anyone who might pass him by. The Latins were darker skinned than he, and did not burn so easily in the sun. But he was taller and stronger, so they never spoke down to him, at least not to his face. 

Outside the  _ Lupanar  _ she was loitering, half-leaning against the brick wall. One small hand was placed delicately on her hip, the golden bracelet there catching the light of the sun as it set. She was pretty, he noticed even from a distance, though she wore a toga and not a stola, meant to set her apart from the respectable women. 

A little  _ lupa _ , a  _ meretrix _ who beheld his approach with hooded honey eyes. A Venus, it seemed, and he found himself entranced by her flawless tan skin and the freckles that dotted her face and exposed shoulder. Her hair was drawn back into three buns, adorned with golden ornaments. Her smile was secretive and demure. 

“ _ Dominus _ ,” she called to him, stopping him in his tracks. Her voice was soft, low and inviting. “Have you any need of company tonight? You look quite alone…” 

Kylo cleared his throat, cursing his pale skin as his cheeks flamed. Normally he did not trifle with prostitutes, but the allure of this one was hard to resist. 

When he did not answer she pushed off of the wall, sandals grinding grit into the stone street. Her hands met his chest, and her eyes wandered curiously over his military regalia, which he wore to ward off unwanted attention. Now it seemed to have the opposite effect as she looked up at him through her lashes. 

“No answer for a whore, legionnaire?” 

Kylo’s nostrils flared. She was acting, like all whores did. Trying her best to beguile coin from his purse. She looked quite young, she could not have been older than twenty. 

“Even the mighty have baser needs which must be satisfied,  _ Dominus _ .” 

He caught her wrist before she could lay an open palm on his face. She smelled of honey and flowers, and when she smiled up at him he saw she still had all of her teeth. They were clean and white. Rare for a prostitute. Her  _ leno _ must have reserved her for clientele of higher status. 

Her golden eyes darted downward, as if she were appreciating what she could not see through the leather of his tunic, but really she was eyeing the fat bulb of his coin purse on his hip. 

Kylo snorted and pushed her away with as much gentleness as he could muster, “I’ve no interest in bedding a woman in a whore house.” 

It was a half-lie. He had visited brothels during his time in Rome, when he was young and newly freed. But he hadn’t lived that sort of life in a long time, and was grateful that he had avoided a lifetime of chronic venereal disease.

“It doesn’t have to be here,” she was bold for a whore, and she caught his hand, halting him in his tracks. There was a glimmer of desperation in her eyes now, and she spoke with entreaty. “If the coin is right my  _ leno _ will allow me to accompany you wherever you like.” 

Kylo’s dark brow furrowed. She seemed over eager to spend the night with him, and not in the way whores often were. All of her demure had melted away, and he began to notice how thin she was. There were dark circles under her eyes. Bruises on her arms obscured by poorly applied makeup. 

“What is your name, girl?” That’s what she was, a girl. A frightened girl willing to sell her body to escape the confines of her whore’s cell. 

“I am called Rey,  _ Dominus. _ But if it pleases you, you may call me whatever you like.” She was attempting to resume her coquettish facade, falsely believing that she had beguiled him once more. Rather she had piqued his concern, because he knew the life of the slave, and he pitied her. 

“I am Kylo Ren, _ Legatus _ in the service of Caesar, his imperial majesty Vespasian. Who is your master, Rey?” 

She dropped his hand, suddenly apprehensive. Now that she knew his name and title she saw good reason to be afraid. Such powerful men were seldom kind to whores. Kylo Ren was no menial legionnaire. 

“Don’t be afraid,” he soothed. “I wish to strike a deal with him.” 

He would take her into his home for the night, show her some kindness and a hearty meal then send her on her way without any sort of sexual contact. Her spirit was as of yet unbroken it seemed, and he hoped the gesture might foster some hope in her, to know that kindness did exist in the world. 

Rey pursed her lips and nodded, taking his hand and leading him into the depths of the  _ Lupanar _ . The main hallway was open and bright, the walls and ceilings painted with images of the variety of services the women could provide. Kylo averted his eyes from them, instead focusing on the pearls inlaid into Rey’s hairpiece. 

She led him past cells with wooden doors, bawdy sounds of sex coming muffled through them. The air was heavy with incense, barely disguising the scent of sweat and intercourse. 

Kylo’s stomach turned. 

They came to a small courtyard dotted with benches and wildflowers. A few other prostitutes were loitering about. At the yard’s center, with a young woman planted forcefully in his lap, was a fat man in a dirty toga. His hair was stringy and greasy, combed over the shiny top of his balding head. He clutched at the woman’s thighs with thick-fingered hands, and when his deep set eyes turned to them he met them with a sleazy, yellow smile. 

“A legionnaire, Rey? Very good of you,” his voice was thick and unpleasant on Kylo’s ears. More than anything he wanted to gut the bastard, there would be no consequences for him, but such a rash act would also jeopardize the lives of the women in his care. 

Rey nodded and folded her hands neatly in front of her body, she kept her gaze firmly on the ground, and Kylo realized she was not permitted to speak. He straightened his back, and let his shadow fall squarely over the squat little pimp. 

“I want her for the night,” he played his part convincingly. “All acts permitted.” 

The pimp’s eyes lit up and his hand drifted from the woman’s thigh to her hip where he squeezed, “Certainly possible, if you have the  _ denarii _ .” 

“I’ll give you gold if I can take her away from this place and have her somewhere more…  _ personal _ .” 

Rey remained stone still beside him. He perceived fear, but also a subtle defiance in the set of her jaw. 

“That can certainly be arranged, though if my goods return damaged there will be an issue," the  _ leno  _ leaned forward, crushing the woman in his lap awkwardly into his sweaty chest. "I know how you officers are. Bruises I can overlook, but no blood, understand?" 

Kylo suppressed a shudder, wondering morbidly at what exactly his brothers-in- arms got up to with these poor women. Outwardly he was stone cold, severe even, as he answered, "Understood." 

The man's smile widened, yellow and seedy, "Alright. The name is Plutt. I'm the proprietor of this fine establishment and Rey is one of my finest women. You'll see she has all of her teeth, and at twenty years at that!" 

"I had noticed." Beside him Rey tensed further. 

Plutt cleared his throat, shifting the woman in his lap, then pushing her away with a sharp slap on her behind. She squealed and skirted away into the shadows of the  _ Lupanar _ . The pimp stood and approached Rey, taking her chin under his finger and forcing her eyes to meet his. 

"She is well versed in the sensual arts and has remained pestilence free for her entire life. Ten  _ aurei  _ for the night, another five if she is not back to me by noon, then another for any abrasion I find in her skin once she is returned to me. Four for each missing tooth." 

Rey visibly winced, jerking away from her  _ leno's _ touch. 

He hissed at her through her teeth, smacking her lightly across her cheek, "You look at me girl!" 

Her lips pulled back into a snarl and the look she returned could have tempered steel. 

"Fiery…" Kylo exhaled with barely restrained reverence. 

"Yes," Plutt admitted apologetically, combing fat fingers through his thin, greasy hair. "A shame really, she's perfect otherwise. Though I promise she'll show you a good time."

The pimp's eyes darkened and he snatched her chin up once more, "She knows the consequences should she disobey you, revered  _ Legatus _ ." 

Kylo looked the girl up and down, slowly, observing every tan inch of her, “I doubt that there will be a problem.” 

Plutt hummed in agreement then dropped Rey’s chin. Her eyes shot to the ground once more, and the pimp’s hungry gaze turned entirely onto Kylo, “I need the coin up front.” 

Kylo plucked his coin purse from his belt and counted out ten golden  _ aurei _ into his palm. He took his time, letting the light glint off of the metal. They were older coins, printed with the face of Nero. 

With a false smile plastered onto his face Kylo dropped the coins into Plutt’s fat hands. The pimp giggled greedily and rubbed two of the coins together. Then he lifted one to his mouth and bit it to test its authenticity. 

“Very good,” Plutt said, satisfied. He waved a dismissive hand at the pair, enamored by his new wealth. “She’s yours for the night,  _ Legatus _ . Enjoy her any way you like.” 

“I intend to,” Kylo replied coolly. Then he seized Rey by her wrist, his touch was deceptively gentle. She could have easily broken from his grasp, but her arm remained limp and at his command as he led her back through the  _ Lupanar _ and out onto the stone streets of Pompeii. 

Mensis October. 26. 79 AD

He rushed to gather his travelling clothes. Moving through his estate like a tornado, leaving a trail of perishable foodstuffs and ornamental clothing in his wake. None of those things would serve any purpose to him on the road, and the journey to Herculaneum, even on the back of his fastest horse, would take him through the night. 

He knew not what level of destruction he would be venturing into, but he donned his hardiest road leathers and a thick, woolen cloak.

He would not bother to inform the emperor. If such a disaster had struck Pompeii that Hux would claim Orcus had come to earth, then surely word would reach his imperial majesty through some other means. Kylo didn’t have time to spare. He needed to get on the road, he needed to get to Rey.

His intensity frightened his servants, who all retreated to their chambers and out of his path. Most of them were somewhat aware that he kept a mistress in the south, many of them had received letters for him from covert couriers, cloaked in the night carrying their surreptitious correspondence. They knew he was committed, enthralled, utterly devoted, and they could see in his fiery eyes that he was afraid. 

“I am leaving!” Kylo announced loudly and to no one in particular. He stood at the threshold peering back into the foyer of his estate. It appeared empty, but he knew that they could hear him. “Keep the doors locked! Tell no one of my travels! And prepare a guest a room!” 

He couldn’t be certain if Rey would be willing to share his bed so openly. It was best that he be prepared for her arrival and assume conservatively that she would  _ not _ want all of Rome to know that Legatus Kylo Ren was fucking her every night. 

Kylo would find her, he assured himself as he stepped out into the cool air of the night. He would find her alive and well, and he would bring her safely back to Rome. There was no alternative that he could bear to imagine. 

_ Mensis Maius. 12. 78 AD _

He brought Rey to his apartments. They were spacious and lavishly decorated. The girl was quiet, contemplative as she took in the space. She didn’t seem particularly impressed by the silks and war trophies that filled up the space, but neither did she seem particularly interested in investigating them further. 

Mounted on the western wall, glinting prettily in the sunlight, were his crowns. Awards for his loyal and outstanding service to the empire. Three Gold crowns, and one deceptively simple chaplet woven from the grasses of southern Germania. 

“The one made from grass,” he finally spoke, startling Rey slightly. She had been enamored with his view of the gardens. “ _ Corona obsidionalis _ , it is the highest honor a legionnaire can receive.” 

Rey pursed her mouth, “It looks like nothing more than a dry clump of weeds.” 

Kylo ignored her rudeness, “It is my honor, my pride given physical form.” 

“Why are you telling me this?” The little  _ lupa _ crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “I’m here for a reason, why waste time on this?” 

Kylo turned away from his crowns. Her directness surprised him, and he began to understand how she might have acquired some of her bruises, “I’m not going to fuck you.” 

Rey’s brows peaked and her gaze darkened. She was wary of his intentions, she needed to be in her line of profession, “Why bring me here at all, then?” 

The _ Legatus _ took his time answering her, unclipping his  _ gladius  _ from his belt and laying it neatly on a table. The he removed his cloak and draped it over the back of an upholstered chais. 

“I was a slave once,” he explained, and he leaned against the edge of the table. His hair was still damp from the baths, and he pushed it away from his eyes. 

“I am not a slave,” Rey half-spat back at him, though her eyes still averted to the floor with shame. “Do not pity me.” 

“A freedwoman then? Yet you live your life in the service of Plutt. How is that any different than slavery?” 

“Say what you mean!” Her fists were clenched at her sides, freckled face red and honey eyes glinting, incensed. Kylo couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful she was in her ferocity, like a caged lioness, pacing as her handler prodded at her ribs with a stick. 

“When I was young, younger than you, I was a slave of the emperor. I served for him at the Coliseum in Rome. I know what it is to spend one’s days in fetters and nights performing for the pleasure of others.” 

“And what pleasures can I perform for you,  _ Legatus _ ? We are wasting time by talking.” 

“None. I mean it. I didn’t bring you here to fuck you.”

“I’m a whore,  _ Dominus _ ,” Her arms dropped and her eyes rolled as though what she was hearing was utterly ridiculous. “I fuck men like you, it’s how I live.” 

“And I killed men and slayed beasts for the enjoyment of all of Rome, yet each night I went to bed with a sorrowful heart. You are a beautiful woman,  _ Domina _ , let me show you a night of kindness.” 

Rey was stunned, obviously taken aback by his improper use of such an honorific, “I—

“My supper will be delivered soon. Sit and eat with me. It will be roasted boar and honied vegetables and all the wine you can drink.” 

He was leaning towards her now, pulled in by her gravity. She looked so vulnerable in the face of his kindness, so innocent despite her whore’s clothes. 

“All of this because you think I am beautiful? Ten  _ aurei  _ because you wish to share a meal with me?” 

“You are beautiful and spirited, Rey. You caught my eye so quickly when no other woman would. I see so much of my younger self in you, in your defiance and unbroken spirit. Our meeting feels divinely sanctioned, as though Venus herself placed you in my line of sight.” 

Rey began to relax, though her tone was still cautious, “No sex?” 

“None,” Kylo swore, though he secretly added  _ unless you so desire it. _ She was very beautiful, and he could not help his baser wants. 

“...Okay. I will eat with you, but this kindness makes little difference in my daily life,  _ Legatus _ . Do not think you are doing me such great kindness. One meal will not wipe the bruises from my skin or spare me the thrust of a lesser man’s cock in the nights to come.” 

Kylo scowled at that, brow furrowing. She was a whore, yes, but he did not like the idea of another man laying with her. 

“I will see what sort of arrangement I can come to with your  _ leno _ .” 

This took Rey aback, stunning her into silence. And at that moment there came a knock at the door to distract from the intensity of their conversation. 

“ _ Legatus Ren, _ we have your supper!” 

Kylo moved to let the servants in. There were three of them, plus a moustached man who was obviously the chef. 

The board was served on a platter, pre-carved and adorned with wild berries and a drizzling of red sauce. The vegetables were unveiled in a puff of sweat smelling white steam, and the wine was poured from an ewer made from engraved silver. The glasses were stone, and carved with images of battle. 

Rey’s dumb struck state was only exacerbated by the casual show decadence, and she stood nervously to the side, worrying her hands in front of her toga. 

The chef eyed her with contempt, it was obvious by her state of dress that she was a prostitute. 

“You have a guest tonight,  _ Legatus _ ?” The chef questioned. Never before had Kylo Ren brought a  _ she-wolf _ into the House of Julia Felix. Perhaps the staff had considered him above such base trifles, but he saw no need to justify himself to them. 

“Yes.” He offered no more explanation. “But this will be plenty of food, leave us now. You interrupted some  _ riveting _ conversation.” 

The servants kept their gazes averted, bashful. But the chef looked between the pair with open distaste, “I can imagine. We will leave you then,  _ Legatus _ . Gods watch over you.” 

“And you as well.” He nodded stiffly at their backs as they fled the apartments. 

Rey shook her head, eyes combing over the set table. Kylo’s  _ gladius  _ had been pushed aside by the silver trays and cutlery.

She snorted sardonically, “Am I worth sullying your reputation so?” 

“Yes, sit.” He pulled back an ornately carpentered chair and motioned towards the seat with his hand. 

She sat carefully, as if the ornate woodwork might burn her, “This food looks very rich.”

“It is. Eat your fill, I’ll take what’s left when you’re done.” 

When she didn’t move he began to make her a plate, piling it high with lean cuts of boar and vegetables that tumbled like stones from the sides of Vesuvius. Then he poured them each a cup of wine, it was a dark, rich red, and when it pooled in the cup it was the color of blood.

“The wine is dry,” he commented, sipping it lightly. “But it is good, it will complement the meat.” 

Rey stared at her plate for a moment, then her eyes dropped to her cutlery, laid out neatly before her in accordance with etiquette. Kylo realized she likely did not know how to use them, the lower classes often ate with their hands. He had once, before General Snoke lifted him up and out of the dregs of Roman society. 

“Eat with your hands, it does not bother me.” 

Permission granted, Rey dug in. For a while they sat in silence as she stuffed herself full of rich food, and when her plate was clean she broke a heel of bread and used it to sop up all of the grease and honey from her plate. She went through several cups of wine, and so did Kylo as he watched her. His skin grew warm and his thoughts blissfully muddled, and when she was finally done he hardly cared enough to pick at the scraps of what remained.

“Tell me of the Coliseum,” Rey slurred, head resting on her arms. Her eyes were hooded and lazy, chin smeared with honey. Her wine cup was half empty, and Kylo refilled it with slow, drawn out movements. “Tell me of Rome, I have never been.”

“It is the grandest city in all the world,” Kylo leaned back in his chair and it creaked in complaint beneath the weight of his big body. “The Tiber is like a mosaic of ships beneath the midday sun, the Forum is alive with shops and people espousing wild ideas, the temples are grand and the palace is grander.” 

“And the Coliseum?” 

“A jewel in the crown of Rome. Though my time there was spent in the metaphorical yoke it is also the place where I gained renown and made myself known to the Legion.” 

Rey rolled her head in her arms, yawning widely. Outside the sun had set and the moon hung low and pale in the inky pool of the sky.

“How many men have you killed,  _ Legatus _ ?” She was not attempting to goad him, she was too drunk for that. He could see in the openness of her expression that she was truly curious. Her eyes kept running up the bulk of his biceps and shoulders, wondering at his size beneath his leathers. 

“Many at the Coliseum,” he admitted. Those deaths he was not proud of. They had been slaves and captives just as he was, and though it was necessary to maintain his own survival he still carried some guilt over it. “Many more in Germania.”

Rey yawned again, and Kylo found it difficult to look away from her. She was unbearably adorable, all ruffled and drunk and covered in crumbs. She blinked at him lazily, “What is it like in Germania?” 

“Cold and harsh, in the winters the snow accumulates past my knees. The people are barbarians, wild and fierce, and they worship wilder gods.”

“I have heard tales that the men fight naked.” 

“Some do. They are called berserkers, but they are not so terribly frightening once you remember they lack armor.” 

Finally her golden eyes settled on his face, and they narrowed, a scowl forming on her lips. Her expression was almost accusatory, “You said you were a slave. How did you earn your freedom?” 

“My prowess in combat was noticed by a high-ranking general. With the emperor’s permission he freed me and made me a  _ Decanus _ . From there I showed my valor and worth, and now here I am.” 

“I am a woman.” 

Kylo raised an eyebrow, “You are, to the best of my knowledge, yes.” 

“I cannot be a soldier. So how am I to earn my freedom? I can hardly show valor when I spend all of my time on my knees and back.” 

Kylo’s gaze dropped to the grain of the table. He supposed that was the difference between their respective servitudes. That their genders set them on such unequal paths seemed unfair. 

When he did not answer her Rey continued on with her line of questioning, sitting up it sip at her wine some more, “You said you were younger than me during your years at the Coliseum, how old are you,  _ Legatus _ ?”

“Thirty-three.” 

Rey rocked back in her chair, pushing off the side of the table. For the first time that night she really truly smiled, grinning from ear to ear, “You are old! I’m surprised your hair is not turning grey,  _ avus _ .”

“I’m hardly an  _ avus _ ,” Kylo argued playfully. 

Rey snorted and drank deeply of her wine, when she set the cup back on the tabletop liquid sloshed over the rim, “You are though! But you don’t look it,  _ Legatus _ .”

“Please, call me Kylo in private.” 

“Kylo…” Rey seemed to weigh his name on her tongue. “An odd name.” 

Kylo sipped his wine, “So is Rey.” 

She smiled again, smaller, but still amused, “Yes, it is. I wish I had known my mother, so I could ask her why.”

“Mothers are highly overrated.” He offered in vague comfort. He hadn’t spoken to his own mother in years. Much of his anger had abated with time, but he still couldn’t imagine ever meeting her eyes. 

“You look tired,” he continued, and he was right. Her eyes were hooded, lids heavy, and the dark circles under her eyes were even more apparent than they had been at the  _ Lupanar _ . “Would you like to rest? You can take the bedroom, I have accommodations in my office and can make myself comfortable there.” 

Rey shook her head, “No. I don’t want to sleep. If I sleep then tomorrow will come more quickly and I don’t want to return to the brothel.” 

Her eyes were glazed with alcohol, but Kylo could still detect fear behind them. His chest seized with sympathy towards her pain but also rage that another man might touch her before he could pay for her time once more. And when he was recalled to Rome, or even further, Germania? Then she would be far beyond his reach. Even the words of a  _ Legatus _ only carried so much power, especially with thousands of miles between them. 

“You sleep, Kylo,” Rey said and he was jolted from the violent spiral of his thoughts. “I would like to stay awake, I think I will walk the  _ hortus _ and enjoy the moonlight.” 

“I will not let another man touch you,” Kylo spoke sudden and fierce. His expression must have frightened her because she recoiled slightly beneath his gaze. “Not unless you desire it. I will come to an agreement with Plutt… I will barter for your freedom.” 

“I’m not a slave, you cannot simply buy my freedom. And you speak as though  _ you’re  _ the only man allowed to touch me,” her defenses were raised once more, face guarded and suddenly sober. With words alone he had spoiled his promise to her, and so quickly at that. It could not have been later than midnight. 

There was no concealing his interest now, she had intrigued him so thoroughly and he couldn’t bear the thought of allowing her to return to the life of a prostitute. Not when he could help her. 

“You are unique. Let me pay Plutt off so he will let you go peacefully. Let me help you to establish a real, respectable life for yourself.” 

“So I am not a respectable woman, in your eyes?”

“No— I—

Kylo shoved away from the table, the legs of his chair scraping loudly across the tiled floor. Rey startled and froze in her seat, and he wiped an exasperated hand over his face. 

“You are a beautiful, spirited woman, Rey. Like I said previously; I see much of myself in you and I want to help you! Yes, I admit I find you frustratingly attractive but I am a man, not a beast, and I will not act only any baser desire I feel unless you indicate to me that it is also what you want.  _ Let me help you _ . Let me put some goodness back into this horrible world.” 

Rey blinked at him, beautiful face an expressionless mask. Candlelight guttered reflectively in her irises and her lips pursed into a thin line, “You say you want to help me? Prove your intentions. Pay Plutt for my services, keep me off of my back until I am certain of your convictions and then you will have my cooperation.” 

Kylo stepped forward and knelt before her, making himself as small as he could manage under her discerning stare. On his knees he looked up and into the sharp lines of her face, bathed half in fire and half in moonlight.  _ That is the duality of this woman _ , he thought. And he knew she would be worth every aureus, every testing task she placed in his hands. He would make her love him because this was fate sanctioned by the divines themselves, there was no other explanation. 

“Venus herself must be smiling down on me,” he marveled aloud. 

The corner of Rey’s mouth pulled up and she touched the side of his face with careful fingertips, “The Gods have never been much help to me, and you need to shave  _ Dominus _ . Lest the face of Rome become sullied by stubble.” 

He snorted and rose smoothly back to his feet, then he offered her a hand, “Come, I insist you take my quarters for the night. You need not fear tomorrow any longer, no harm will come to you so long as I am in Pompeii.”

And that was all he could promise, but to the young whore it must have seemed as though he were giving her the world. 

_ Mensis October. 26. 79 AD. _

His stallion was a beast of a horse, a friesian originally bred to pull chariots, Kylo Ren had made a fine war horse out of him. Though he was not as quick as an arabian might have been, he was sure-footed and strong. He was called Callinus, but in secret Kylo called him  _ Caligula  _ because the creature was ill-tempered and violent towards any man but his rider. 

Now Cal bore his rider into a blood-red sunset, through the streets of Rome, sending pedestrians reeling out of his path, faces stricken with fear as Kylo and his horse thundered past them in a pillar of bulky, black musculature and billowing cape. 

Through the streets, past the gates and out into the rolling hills of the countryside they flew. Past farm and vineyards and grazing bovine. The roads were clear and paved with stone in the Roman style, and Kylo knew nothing but man would stand as an obstacle between himself and his woman. 

In the many months since their fateful meeting Rey had moved into a villa with Kylo’s mother, to the north of Pompeii, in Herculaneum. Leia Organa had been teaching Rey her letters, how to read and write, and in recent months he had been able to carry on a secretive correspondence with his love. He knew of her suspicions, he knew of the changes in her physicality and health. He knew the danger that whatever cataclysm awaited him beyond the horizon might pose to his future. 

_ Beloved, _ she had written to him. Her sentences were short and simple, as she was still learning more complex grammar.  _ The illness I suffered. Leia believes I am with child. I agree. It frightens me. I miss you. Please come back to me.  _

_ Rey  _

Rey was pregnant. 

Or at least she thought she might be, and apparently his mother agreed. 

It was no surprise after everything they had  _ done _ . It might have even been the goal, in a way. They had certainly toyed with one another as if it had been the desired outcome. 

Now the strange, beautiful future Kylo had imagined for them and their child was at stake. His whole world was turned on end, and as the sky began to blacken with night and  _ Caligula  _ began to lose his first wind, so too did Kylo begin to lose hope. 

And what would he do if the worst came to pass? He could never return to life as it had been before Rey. Aimless bachelorhood. Days, weeks, months spent alone, searching endlessly for purpose and meaning. Rey was his newfound tie to his mother, the single point at which he was bound to the world of the living. The glory of war could sustain him no longer, not now that he finally understood love. 

Surely, if Rey were to perish in the Orcus Hux had described, Kylo Ren too would perish in his effort to find her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Word Bank**
> 
> Aureus - gold unit of money
> 
> Avus - Grandfather (the way Rey uses it is playful and would be more accurately translated as ‘grandpa’)
> 
> Dominus/Domina - Master/Mistress
> 
> Denarii - Plural for silver unit of money
> 
> Gold crown/corona aurea - a crown awarded to Centurions for winning single combat or holding ground until the end of a battle
> 
> Grass crown/corona obsidionalis - Highest of military decorations. It was awarded to a general or officer whose actions saved their legion (or the entire army)
> 
> Gladius - Roman sword
> 
> House of Julia Felix - An estate in Pompeii, part of which was rented out as apartments
> 
> Hortus - Roman Garden
> 
> Legatus - High ranking officer in the Roman army
> 
> Leno - Pimp
> 
> Lupa - she-wolf (slang for prostitute)
> 
> Lupanar - brothel
> 
> Meretrix - a registered prostitute
> 
> Tunica Intima - Light tunic often worn beneath the stola


	2. making constellations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut ahead wee-woo wee-woo 
> 
> Also I had to increase the chapter count because we aren't even to the breeding kink yet.

_ Mensis Maius. 30. 78 AD.  _

For over two weeks he paid for her time. Day-in and day-out he owed Plutt, who was quickly becoming irritated with Kylo’s games. 

“You cannot keep her from her work!” Plutt insisted loudly as Kylo made what had become his weekly deposit of  _ aurei _ . The coins glittered on a table between them, inviting as anything. 

“The other whores are whispering that you aren’t even fucking her! Just keeping her around like some pretty bird for you to look at!” 

Kylo was growing impatient. Rey was waiting for him back at his apartments and he only had a few weeks of leave remaining. The heat of the looming summer was imposing, and sweat dripped down the back of his neck, thinning his patience further.

“Does it matter what I do with her? I am paying you,  _ leno _ . And very well at that.” 

“I have regular clients who prefer her,” Plutt insisted, “They want to know what has become of their favorite whore!” 

“Tell them that she is with a better man,” Kylo pushed the  _ aurei _ across the table, emperor Vespasian’s imperfect profile looking on intensely. “I’ve had enough of you. Now take the coin and let me go in peace.” 

Plutt glared at him, but still greedily swiped up the coins, counting them between his fat fingers as Kylo retreated into the depths of the  _ Lupanar _ . As always it was filled with wanton noises and the heady scent of sex. 

The  _ Legatus _ walked briskly back towards the House of Julia Felix, a skip in his step despite the oppressive heat of budding summer. 

The friendship between himself and his little  _ lupa _ grew stronger with each passing day. Despite her lack of formal education he had found that she possessed a quick and wry wit which amused him greatly, and there was great depth to her emotionality. A detail about the lower classes which was often ignored but the upper echelon. But Kylo knew it was there, and he cherished that depth of her soul, he wanted to foster it, to encourage her and help her grow strong in her own right. 

He also wanted to kiss her, utterly enraptured by her beauty. But he would not do so without her enthusiastic permission. The  _ Legatus _ would rather spend the rest of his life pining than frighten Rey. 

When he arrived back at his apartments he found Rey lounging on his chaise lounge, a stem of grapes dangling from one hand while she plucked free the fattest, sweetest fruits with the other. He paused for a moment, silent in the entryway. Her jaw worked, juice glinting at the corners of her mouth as the tan skin of her throat shifted in shadow while she swallowed. He dreamed of that mouth, of those lips which parted so prettily after each swallow. Watching her eat in her perceived isolation was disturbingly erotic. 

It wasn’t like that between them. They were not lovers, Rey had made that abundantly clear and Kylo intended to respect her wishes. 

He made his presence known by clearing his throat. 

“ _ Domina _ ,” the term had become an endearment towards the little  _ lupa _ , spoken only within the confines of his apartments. “You are free for another week.” 

Rey swallowed down another grape then smiled at him brightly, her whole face lighting up, “I am very glad to hear it. I don’t ever want to go back, I think. You have been good to me  _ Legatus _ I think I may just accept your offer after all, depending on what supper is.” 

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, smirking cheekily. 

Kylo took his time in answering. First he removed his  _ gladius _ from his belt and laid it neatly on the table. Then he removed his cloak and hung it on the wall near the door. He considered his words carefully, wanting nothing less than to frighten the poor girl when he had managed to foster such trust. 

“I’m afraid I do not know what supper is, I haven’t visited the kitchens today,” he began, crossing the room to stand nearer to her. The shutters were thrown open, the sweet scent of summer blooms floated in from the gardens outside. 

Rey hummed thoughtfully, throwing herself back to lay recumbent in the feather pillows. She pressed a finger to her lips in faux ponderance, “I will have to think on it a bit longer, then.” 

“Rey,” Kylo knelt beside the chaise, now level with her wide, warm eyes. 

Rey, sensing the shift in tone, sat upright and pulled a woven throw defensively about her shoulders, “You promised,” she began, anticipating the worst, “you promised that you would protect me!” 

“Easy,” Kylo raised his hands to show that he meant no harm. “I am not returning you to the clutches of that vile  _ leno _ .”

“Then what is it that brings such severity to your tone?” Rey leaned forward, pretty brow furrowed with concern, and he could feel her sweet breath on his face. 

“My time in Pompeii will soon come to an end.” 

She stared at him blankly, not comprehending. 

“My leave from the legion will soon expire,” he explained further. “I will be needed in Rome, and then I will likely go north again to Germania or Gaul.” 

Rey’s expression was crestfallen, and she averted her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. 

Perhaps pushing his boundaries, Kylo reached out, catching her hand between his own, “I cannot leave you in Pompeii, not in good conscience. Let me pay whatever debts you owe to Plutt and sweep you from this place.”

Rey sniffed, “W— where would I go? Surely I cannot follow you to Rome.” 

“No, you cannot. But I know of a safe place to the northwest, on the sea.” 

There were tears brimming obviously in her eyes, and Kylo could not help but touch her cheek and swipe them away with his thumb. She did not flinch away from his touch, but she seemed to lean into it slightly. 

“It is called Herculaneum, surely you’ve heard of it?” 

Rey sniffed and nodded. 

“I know someone who lives there, someone who would surely look after you in my absence.” 

“How long would you be gone?” Rey’s voice was high and strained. She clutched the wrist of the hand that touched her face, refusing to let him drop it. 

“In truth I cannot say,” Kylo admitted sadly. “But I would return whenever fate allowed me.” 

It was not lost on him that they spoke like lovers facing indefinite separation. How his heart pined to hold her in that moment. 

“You would be loyal to me?” Rey questioned, voice quavering but leading.

“ _ Yes _ , on my honor I swear it.” 

Rey pursed her mouth pensively for a moment, then asked; “Would you escort me there? I don’t want to be sent packing like some dirty secret. If you’re going to take up with a whore you should own it,  _ Legatus _ .” 

Kylo nodded fiercely, “I will send word and delay my departure north by a week.” 

_ Take up with her _ , she’d said. What did she mean by that? He felt like a youth again, clambering after some untouchable woman of noble birth. He would see them in the stands, painted and beautiful and fanning themselves. In secret he would fight for them, but when he emerged victorious he never truly earned any of their favors. 

Now here laid before him a maiden just as fair, but twice as keen as any noble senator’s daughter he’d ever met, and she was speaking of  _ taking up _ together. 

“We’ll take the long road,” Kylo promised. “I’ll show you some of the beauty of our fair empire.”

The journey would take them north along the Campanian plane, beneath the shadow of Vesuvius and right to the glittering waters of the sea. 

Rey let go of his hand and rolled back into a sitting position. She was wearing a fine  _ stola _ , now. One of many that Kylo had purchased for her. It was bright white, and complimented her equally new blue  _ tunica intima  _ nicely. The claps of it shimmered golden in the late afternoon sun. 

Her smile was small, but spoke volumes, and the tenseness of the room began to lessen, “I accept your offer, then,  _ Dominus _ .” 

A weight was lifted from the shoulders of the _ Legatus _ , and he slumped slightly forward, pressing his face into her soft lap. Already she was putting on healthy weight from all the rich food, he could feel it under his hands as he grasped her hips. Rey combed her fingers through his hair as he whispered soft praises into her  _ stola _ . 

“ _ Thank Jupiter _ ,” he was saying, “ _ Thank Venus and all the gods who watch from above. _ ” But it was all muffled beyond comprehension into Rey’s lap. 

When he pulled away, red cheeked and breathless, Rey shook her head at him, “I still don’t understand why you chose me.” 

“It was predestined, your wild spirit called to me and I was helpless but to answer,” He felt like he’d tried to explain himself a hundred times since she’d come to stay with him, and every time he failed to give proper voice to his feelings. But how could he verbalize something as essential as the tides? As sure as the stars in the sky each night? It was the will of the Gods, that was all he could say.

Rey stood up and stretched out, long, lean and cat-like. Kylo couldn’t help but eye the way her breasts heaved outward when she raised her arms and bowed her back. 

“Come on,” she beckoned, turning towards the patio and the  _ hortus _ . “The sun will be setting soon, and I want to go for a walk in the garden.” 

Kylo smiled and followed after her. 

_ Mensis October. 27. 79 AD _

_ Legatus _ Kylo Ren rode hard into the wee hours of the morning. Until  _ Calligula _ frothed at the mouth, and coated with shining sweat demanded a slower pace with a deep bow of his great black head. 

The air was growing strangely hot despite the hour, and in the sky a foreboding, dark cloud masked all the stars and the moon. 

Soft, pale flakes began to pepper down around them, padding the stone of the road beneath the stallion’s hooves. 

Kylo had never seen anything like it, this soft, grey snow. It contained no cold, and when he pinched a flake between his fingers it disintegrated into dust. When he pressed the residue to his tongue he found that it tasted burnt, and his heart lurched painfully into his throat. 

“ _ Gods _ ,” he beseeched them all, greater to lesser, from Jupiter to secretive Laverna he pleaded for the life of his little  _ lupa _ . “ _ Let her come through his darkness, give me the strength to pull her out of this madness.” _

He remembered that night, the night she had agreed to accompany him to his mother’s villa outside Herculaneum. He remembered how she invited him to join her in the bed. He remembered how still he had laid, hands flat on the sheets as he listened reverently to the steady draw of her breath. 

And when she opened her eyes, coming awake from a dream, how she had kissed him for the first time, chaste and gentle. How his insides had ignited, the fire in his belly stoked to life by the passing caress of her small hands over his face and chest. 

Kylo remembered what it was to truly fall in love. And on the back of his horse a broken sob tore from his chest. 

He was helpless there; a singular rider venturing into the very mouth of hell, alone on the road. Afraid. Sweaty, exhausted and aching from his limbs to his heart. 

He dug his heels into Cal’s sides and prayed for the stallion to find a second wind. 

_ Mensis Iunius. 12. 78 AD.  _

His mother answered his missive with exceptional haste. It had been many years since any attempt had been made between them to contact one another, and she was eager to see how her son had grown into his new life. Rey was almost an afterthought in her reply, written in a smooth, flowing hand; 

_Ben,_ _you are always welcome within the walls of my home. It has been many years since I have heard from you, since well before your entry into the arena. I have missed you dearly and gladly welcome you and your guest at my hearth. Come, posthaste._

_ -mother _

Reading the letter over again and again, his muscles tensed and jaw tightened at the thought of seeing her again. She was right, he hadn’t met with her in the flesh since before he entered into the service of Snoke, before his time at the Coliseum, even. In truth he had no desire to break the streak of avoidance, but Leia Organa was his only hope at securing a future for Rey. 

They made the journey north in about three days, taking their time wending their way along the rolling hills of the Campanian plane. Vesuvius loomed over them, standing ancient, silent vigil. 

They had only kissed the one time, but Rey insisted that they share a horse. And so she spent her days with her front pressed flush to his back as Cal loped along easily under them. Ben found it very distracting, her arms around his waist, breasts pressed firmly and insistently into the back of his broad shoulders. 

At night they lay flat on their backs, side by side, beholding the vastness of the dark sky, speckled with a smear of painted stars. 

Kylo took the time to point out the constellations to her, simple things which she had never learned. He told her the stories behind them, great heroes and savage beasts all immortalized in the grand fresco of the night sky. 

“You should have a constellation,” Rey posited one night. She had rolled herself into his side, curling into his mass and warmth. One of her small hands trailed over his clothed chest, tracing out the imaginary lines between stars over his flesh. “The brave, noble  _ Legatus  _ Kylo Ren.”

“I’m just a man,” Kylo answered her softly, and he dared to wind a thick arm around her waist. “The stars don’t bend themselves into the shapes of simple men.” 

“You aren’t simple,” Rey muttered, and she was cut off by a yawn. She opened her mouth cutely, eyes scrunching shut, then she dropped her head onto his shoulder and let out a deep, tired sigh. Very soon her breathing evened out, and she was gone from the waking world. 

The moonlight bathed her fine features beautifully, and even as sleep began to wrap him in its lulling tendrils he struggled to keep his eyes open so he might commit her midnight beauty to memory. 

Eventually sleep won out, but she remained close to his side well into the dawn. 

That day they came to the villa, a sprawling ornate building of a single storey. Kylo remembered it with little fondness. Both  _ Latin _ , and more secretively, Gaulic, had been tutored deep into his mind within those walls. His knuckles stung with the phantom raps of his tutor’s switch. He wondered if the shouts of his parents still echoed through the halls? He wondered what buried things this visit might recall for him. 

Rey felt his body go rigid against her, and he felt her ghost her lips over the bulk of his shoulder. 

In the night he had confessed some of his trepidation to her, and now she was ready to support him. 

“ _ Easy, _ ” she whispered into his ear as several of the house guard rode out to meet them. “I am here.”

Emboldened, Kylo rode to meet their welcome party. The man who led them wore golden armor and rode a white horse. His skin was smooth and dark, and his smile bright as he met them. 

“Ben!” He called out, and they both pulled their steeds to a halt. 

It was Finn, Kylo hadn’t seen him since they were both boys. He had grown into quite the formidable warrior, it seemed. He was a foreigner, born in the land of Carthage, but his  _ Latin _ was fluent. A great spear was strapped to his back. His baldric glittered with golden ornamentation. 

“It has been some time, old friend,” His grin was wide and genuine. The other guardsmen came to a halt behind him, their restive mounts pawing anxiously at the earth. 

“Ben?” Rey asked, quietly. 

Kylo sighed. He had more explaining to do, but for the moment he ignored Rey. 

“Are you a mercenary now?” He asked, curious as to Finn’s standing with his own family. 

“In a sense, though my loyalty runs deeper than coin. Come,” he jerked his head back towards the sprawling manse. “Your mother has been eagerly awaiting your arrival for days now.” 

“ _ Ben _ ?” Rey repeated as Cal began a loping canter towards the distant stables. 

Kylo kept his dark eyes squarely on the golden horizon. His jaw was tense. 

“It is the Gaulic name my father gave me,” he answered stiffly. It was the name he was called most commonly in his youth. It had often left him feeling alienated from the other children, and was one of the factors that had contributed to his eventual fall.

“You will have to show me on a map where Gaul is,” Rey replied curiously, mercifully avoiding a more thorough line of questioning. 

They were at the stables before Kylo could formulate any sort of response. He dismounted first, then helped Rey down with his hands on her waist. It was not lost on him how easily his grip spanned her middle, thumbs meeting over her navel. 

“Who is this?” Finn inquired, voice pitching slightly deeper as he tried to make himself more suave. He was on his feet now, several inches shorter than Kylo but still broad and formidable. 

“Lady Rey,” Kylo began, but Rey cut him off. 

“I am a whore of the Pompeii  _ Lupanar _ , Dominus. It is nice to make your acquaintance,” her tone was serious and curt. She had no intention to lie about her true identity it seemed. 

Kylo was struck speechless, baffled by her forwardness. So was Finn, too, for a brief moment. But he recovered quickly. 

“I see, a pleasure,” he seemed uncertain where to rest his eyes on Rey, so his gaze darted nervously until he settled on Kylo. “Come, Leia is waiting for you in her solar.”

He led them from the stables to the heavy wooden doors at the front of the manse. They swung open from inside, and they stepped onto the clean, bright tile of the entryway. 

“I know the way,” Kylo said. “You do not need to escort us, though I thank you for your courtesy, Finn.” 

Reluctantly, Finn allowed them to continue into the depths of the villa unescorted. 

The halls were open and bright and familiar, Kylo had to set himself resolute against the memories that threatened to overtake him. 

Leia Organa’s solar was a wide, bright room ornamented with flowing, sheer curtains and an abundance of sweet smelling wild flowers. The woman herself was waiting for them by a set of tall windows that opened up onto a sea of rolling grassland. The air was fresh and humid with the heat of early summer. 

Kylo entered ahead of Rey, clearing his throat to announce their presence. 

“Welcome home,” Leia turned to greet them, and Kylo was struck by just how thoroughly the passing of time had aged her. Her hair was all silvery grey, done up in an intricate knot on the back of her head. Her dark eyes were wrinkled at the corners and sunken, and her lips were a thin, refined line across the axis of her visage. 

“Mother,” Kylo answered, curtly. He held himself back from embracing her, chest tangled up in a confusing wash of conflicting emotion. 

She turned her gaze to Rey, and the smile that passed over her lips brightened and youthened her entire face. Suddenly she looked quite proud and dignified in her deep orange stola. 

“And this must be the woman that you mentioned in your letters! Step forward girl I would look at you more closely.” 

Wordlessly Rey took a tentative step closer to the older woman. 

Leia laid her hands on Rey’s shoulders, eyes wandering up and down the girl’s form several times before she gave voice to her assessment, “She is a fine creature. Very beautiful, Ben. You have done well for yourself.” 

“I have,” Kylo agreed, relieved. Then Rey opened her mouth. 

“He saved me from the service of my  _ leno _ , at the  _ Lupanar _ in Pompeii,” it was as if she  _ wanted _ everyone to know she had been a whore. 

A flush heated Kylo’s cheeks and he sputtered over useless noise. His mother raised a finely groomed eyebrow, and her gaze wandered lazily back and forth between the two of them, “Is that so?” 

“Yes,  _ Domina _ ,” Rey answered, bowing her head respectfully. 

“Well, I suspect I’ll have questions for you then,  _ the both of you _ , but that can wait until supper. For now I will show you to your room and allow the both of you to settle in.” 

Kylo took the delay of the inevitable interrogation as a disguised blessing, and willingly followed after his mother. Then he processed her use of the singular word ‘room’, and embarrassment rattled him all over again. 

“You will like it here, Rey,” Leia said, not looking back at them as she led them through the halls. “We are very near to the sea. Perhaps, once Ben leaves, you can convince Finn to accompany you to the beach.” 

“That would be wonderful!” Rey proclaimed happily. “I have never seen the sea before! But I have seen the shells, and I would like some of my own.” 

“I will take you before I leave,” Kylo’s chest puffed. He didn’t like the idea of her alone with a man as gallant as Finn. 

“Do you have time?” Leia questioned. 

“I will make time,” They came to a halt at a double wide wooden door. It was carved with the intricate scene of a vineyard. “I will ask for another extension of my leave.”

“ _ You’re posturing _ ,” Rey whispered at him harshly. 

“I mean it,” Kylo asserted. “I should see that you settle in well here.” 

Leia’s eyes glittered knowing and smug as she looked between the two of them, both standing with their shoulders squared in the doorway, “Sounds like a topic that should be discussed within the privacy of your quarters, if you’ll please give me your attention.” 

She pressed her back into the heavy wood of one of the doors, and it gave way to a spacious, open room that looked out on the small courtyard  _ hortus _ in the center of the villa. The bed was massive, four postered and hung with fine drapery. The floors were made from fitted stone, and adorned with rugs of bear and wolfskin and fine, north African weaves. 

Kylo recognized it immediately, scolding himself silently for not realizing sooner where she was taking them. This room had once been his parent’s, back in the days when Han was still alive. 

A shiver went through him, and he shook his head. 

“No,” His body was a singular line of tension. “No, we cannot stay here.  _ I _ cannot stay here.” 

Rey looked to him confusedly, clearly wonderstruck by the grandiosity of the space. 

“It has been many, many years since anyone has slept here, Ben,” Leia reasoned with him. “I swear to you know phantoms remain. All is done and forgiven.” 

“No, I—

“It’s okay,” Rey spoke up from his side. She had gathered one of his large, shaking hands between her own. The warmth and sturdiness of her touch steadied him enough to even out his breathing. “The room is wonderful, we’ll gladly stay here.” 

She squeezed his hand gently and he knew to keep his mouth shut. 

“I will leave you then, until supper. I’ll have the staff draw up a bath for you, as well. I can tell you’re filthy from the road. Did you bring anything besides what you carry on your backs?” 

“Some of my clothes were stashed in the saddlebags,” Rey said. “And thank you,  _ Domina _ , your kindness is felt and appreciated.”

“I will see the two of you at supper,” Leia smiled over her shoulder as she pressed back through the heavy wooden doors. “We’ll be supping on fish fresh from the market in Herculaneum.”

Rey grinned, “I almost never get to eat fish.”

“You will enjoy it,” Kylo offered, finally finding his words again. The memories of the place were closing in around him, but when he centered all of his focus on Rey, his vision brightened some and the burden was lessened. 

Leia left them to settle into their new space. As soon as the door was shut behind her, Rey led Kylo by his hand to the massive bed. She made him sit, and standing before him their eyes were for once of equal height. 

“What troubles you?” Rey cupped his cheek in her hand, her eyes were gentle and receptive. Her touch warmed his whole body. 

“This… this was not a happy place for me as a boy, Rey. Being half Gaulic made me into a pariah amongst my peers. Often I would have nightmares, and I would come here, to my parents bedchamber, for solace. Oftentimes my father would deny me entry… and my  _ father. _ Gods help me, I cannot sleep where he slept.”

Rey’s thumb passed over the corner of his mouth. She was leaning closer than before, standing between Kylo’s legs, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face, “Why not? You and your mother both make it sound as though the man is dead.” 

Kylo averted his eyes from her, too ashamed to hold her gaze, “Yes. He is dead.” 

“I don’t understand, Kylo.” 

He couldn’t admit to her the horrible truth, so he kept his head bowed and his eyes locked firmly on his lap. 

Rey hummed, not understanding, but apparently arriving at some solution. Her hands trailed down his face, over his chest, and she knelt between his thighs, fingers grazing over his armor and playing at the woolen tunic he wore beneath. It was red, and it contrasted his pale skin starkly, a subtle reminder of his heritage. One Rey likely failed to perceive, but Kylo could never escape. 

“Let me help you forget, then,” her voice pitched low and sultry, and her honey eyes flashed dark. 

“Rey…” at first he did not understand, he had so divorced himself from the prospect of sex with her. Then her fingers curled into the ties of his armor, and the realization struck him sudden and hot. 

“You don’t have to—

Rey stood up, fingers still working at his armor as she brushed her lips briefly over his, “I want to. You have brought me this far, and I think you will take me farther. I want to give you something, and this is all I have.” 

“Rey,  _ no _ .” He gave her a gentle shove, not wanting her to feel beholden to him in this way. But she only returned to him with more insistence and vigor. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” She breathed, kissing him again, more intensely this time. When they parted she breathed into his mouth, “Sex is what I know, Kylo. Let me make you feel good.” 

“I won’t fuck you,” He said, though he desperately wanted to. She was undoing the clasps of her  _ stola _ and his cock twitched with interest. His armor felt tight and uncomfortable, and the wool of his tunic was suddenly unbearably hot. 

Rey shook her head, peppering kisses along the line of his jaw and down the pale column of his throat, “You don’t have to fuck me, Ren.” 

He swallowed thickly, shutting his eyes as his chest piece fell free of his body, “What about the bath? The servants might see us.” 

“We’ll already be naked,” Rey jested, stepping out of her  _ tunica intima _ as it pooled at her feet. Underneath she was entirely naked, and Kylo couldn’t help but stare at her small, pert breasts, crowned with pretty pink nipples that stood tight in the open air. His hands groped involuntarily for her hips. He wanted to kiss there,  _ everywhere _ . She was so beautiful. 

“We’ll be ready to bathe,” she continued, and her hands found the clasp of the belt that cinched his tunic around his middle. She undid it smoothly, leaving him in just his baggy, red tunic and his woefully insufficient smalls. 

Rey tugged at the hem of the tunic insistently, and Kylo raised his arms to help her guide it over his head. He was no longer interested in resisting her. His cock was hard and heavy and painfully constrained within his underthings.

Rey ran her hands hungrily over his chest and the rippling plane of his abdomen, laying fiery kisses over his skin as she went. Then she knelt between his thighs once more, small hand weighing his clothed shaft curiously. 

“Let’s make a new memory of this place,” Her eyes were nearly black, almost entirely obfuscated by the disk of her pupil. “Never in my life have I actually  _ wanted _ a man, Kylo.” 

This admittance stoked some rage in his belly, and he felt ready to attack Plutt again before her grip on his clothed cock tightened and he was pacified back into the sheets.

“But I want you,” Rey said breathlessly, then she giggled, palming him insistently. “You’re big.”

“Biggest you’ve had?” Kylo panted, eyes glazed as he stared down at her. She kissed his cock through the thin linen of his smalls and he let out a guttural moan. 

“Maybe,” Rey peered up at him mischievously. “We’ll see.”

Finally she peeled away the thin fabric, tugging it eagerly down his legs and over his feet before returning to marvel at his bare cock. Her thumb could not meet her forefinger around his base as she took him in hand, and she let her tongue swipe teasingly under his glans before slapping the heft of him against her cheek. 

“Priapus is put to shame by you,  _ Dominus _ ,” she ducked her head and pressed a sensual kiss to his base, just above his sac. 

Kylo grunted, falling back into the linens and allowing himself to simply enjoy her ministrations. 

She spent a while teasing him with the tip of her tongue. Tracing along the seam of his balls then following the throbbing vein up the underside of his shaft. Kylo rewarded her with throaty moans and gentle encouragements. Then finally, as her tongue lapped away a bead of clear fluid from his slit, Kylo begged. 

“ _ Please _ , have mercy,” he pleaded, half playful. 

Rey, taking mercy, swiped the wide flat of her tongue up his long shaft and over the fat head one more time before finally sealing her lips around him. She started by just suckling the head, letting her small hand work the turgid flesh of his wet shaft as she bobbed her head shallowly. 

The heat and suction were delicious, and Kylo rolled his head in the duvet, moaning and canting his hips towards her hungry mouth. It was a struggle not to grab her by her hair and push her further onto his cock. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Kylo hissed through his teeth. “Gods have mercy, do you have a sweet mouth.” 

Rey hummed on his dick, sliding further down and relaxing her throat as she took more of him in. The vibrations from her noise shot straight to Kylo’s center and he grunted wordlessly, shutting his eyes and canting his hips more insistently into her mouth. 

Rey reached up, one hand still working the few inches of his cock that she couldn’t take, and grabbed one of his hands, placing it insistently over the back of her head as she bobbed. 

_ Oh _ , Kylo could hardly believe it. His dick twitched and the heat in his belly nearly erupted.  _ Oh, Venus have mercy,  _ she was going to let him fuck her mouth. 

He hadn’t much endurance left in him, so he tangled his fingers into her hair with enthusiasm, eagerly rutting himself over her tongue and into the sweet suction of her mouth and throat. 

Slick spit dribbled from Rey’s lips, and she moaned encouragingly around him as he brought himself near to completion. 

Sensing in the painful throb of his cock that he was close, Rey reached under his cock and took his balls into a gentle but insistent squeeze. The pressure was enough to make the  _ Legatus _ see stars, and his limbs went stiff as he huffed and came down Rey’s wanting throat.

She moaned through his orgasm, continuing to work his cock in her hand, swallowing every bid of cum that he gave her. 

When it was over she rocked back onto her heels, red faced and licking her swollen lips 

“See?” Rey smiled up at him, speaking breathlessly. “No one came to bother us.” 

As if on cue there was a knock at the doors. Kylo moved swiftly, breaking through his post-coital haze and pushing Rey behind him to mask her nudity with his own. His dick was shiny in the midday sun, softening against his thigh. 

The servant did not enter though, instead she said through the door, “I have a tub of water for you, the  _ Domina _ ordered the both of you bathed.” 

“Leave it outside,” Rey answered, voice slightly hoarse.

“I’ll bring it in in a moment,” Kylo added, body relaxing some as it became apparent that Rey’s modesty would be spared. 

“As you wish,” the servant said, and they could hear the slap of her sandals as she retreated down the hall. 

“I don’t mind being seen naked, you know,” Rey said lazily, pushing Kylo back onto the bed and crawling over him. He struggled not to stare at her breasts as they loomed tantalizingly above him. 

“We’ll I don’t like others  _ seeing _ you naked. Your perception of what is and is not acceptable was warped by your years in that vile  _ Lupanar _ ,” Kylo’s face curled up into a snarl at the memory of Unkar Plutt’s sweaty face. 

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” the  _ Legatus  _ added, feeling slightly guilty. 

Rey smirked at him, “I wanted to. I don’t want you to feel afraid or in danger in this place. I want to make it happy for you.” 

“And I want to make it safe for  _ you _ ,” Kylo said. “I’m not one of your Johns, you don’t owe me sex.” 

“Is it so hard to believe that I did that because I  _ like _ you,  _ Dominus _ ?” Rey laid her chin on her hands, which were crossed over his sternum. “You have been nothing but gentle and kind towards me, and you show great devotion. That was my answer, my way of mirroring your devotion.”

“What are you saying?” Kylo pushed, wondering if she might actually say the words. 

Rey shook her head and laughed softly, “I care very deeply for you, Kylo Ren. That is what I am trying to say.” 

That was enough, and Kylo pushed off of the bed and pulled her into a slow, lingering kiss. 

When they were through he dragged the tub of hot water into the room and they took their time bathing each other. By the end they smelled sweet and clean and their hair hung dark and wet around their ears. Rey took the time to kiss both of Kylo’s, which protruded so obviously and embarrassingly from his head. 

When they were through and dressed in clean clothes, Kylo did find it easier to be in his parent’s once-bedroom. There was a light about it now that he could not entirely place or name, but he knew he owed it to Rey. 

He felt as though he owed  _ everything _ to Rey. And in the quiet evening lull before dinner he penned another letter to Hux, informing the general that he would be delayed another two weeks. 

Snoke would be livid, but Kylo could not bring himself to care. He wanted to take Rey to see the sea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Word Bank**
> 
> Aureus - gold unit of money
> 
> Avus - Grandfather (the way Rey uses it is playful and would be more accurately translated as ‘grandpa’)
> 
> Dominus/Domina - Master/Mistress
> 
> Denarii - Plural for silver unit of money
> 
> Gold crown/corona aurea - a crown awarded to Centurions for winning single combat or holding ground until the end of a battle
> 
> Grass crown/corona obsidionalis - Highest of military decorations. It was awarded to a general or officer whose actions saved their legion (or the entire army)
> 
> Gladius - Roman sword
> 
> House of Julia Felix - An estate in Pompeii, part of which was rented out as apartments
> 
> Hortus - Roman Garden
> 
> Legatus - High ranking officer in the Roman army
> 
> Leno - Pimp
> 
> Lupa - she-wolf (slang for prostitute)
> 
> Lupanar - brothel
> 
> Meretrix - a registered prostitute
> 
> Tunica Intima - Light tunic often worn beneath the stola


	3. Mare Nostrum (and a sea of time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breeding kink beings here <3

_ Mensis Sextilis. 15. 78 AD. _

Kylo did take Rey to the sea. After a brief foray back to Rome, during which time Rey became well acquainted with his mother and her household, upon his return he insisted that they take a day away from the villa. 

“Can Finn not come?” Rey teased her fingers along the clothed swath of his broad chest, wide honey eyes entreating. 

They were alone in the quarters they shared. Rey had now spent many moons alone in the massive bed, and Kylo was eager to warm it once more. But first he wished to take her to the sea, which, despite her proximity to it in Pompeii, she had never laid eyes upon. 

The  _ Legatus _ scowled at the mention of the mercenary’s name. Rey seemed to have grown quite fond of him in Kylo’s time away. She looked quite the Roman lady now. Her hair was woven into an intricate net on the back of her head, and she wore a fine  _ stola  _ made from exotic blue silk, belted with leather and gold. A gift from his mother no doubt. 

“I had hope to whisk you away for a while,” Kylo said softly, catching one of her small, delicate hands in his own. He leaned forward, letting the jut of his nose brush hers. “I had hoped for some time alone, just for us.” 

They had been intimate with one another since their first encounter, but they had yet to fully consummate the relationship. Though he always cared for his little  _ lupa’s _ comfort above all else, Kylo was eager to experience her lithe body in full. 

Rey seemed to catch his meaning. Grinning coyly, she leaned into his chest, lacing their fingers together while her sweet breath ghosted his chin, “On a beach,  _ Dominus _ ? Anyone could see.” 

Kylo flushed to his ear, “Wait, no, I didn’t mean to imply that we would—

Rey laughed again, the sound sweet and clear as falling water, “Do not be so bashful, I am only poking fun. Finn can stay behind then, I wouldn’t mind some time alone with you. You were away for so long.” Her eyes turned sad, “I  _ missed _ you, you know.” 

Kylo’s arms rested gently around her waist. Already he was intoxicated by their proximity, “I missed you as well. I had business to attend to for the Legion. I dealt with it as quickly as I could so that I might return to your side.” 

Rey reached up with her free hand and traced the bow of his full mouth, “I knew you would come back to me. You’ll always come back to me, no matter how far away the Legion might take you.” 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Kylo replied fiercely, and he closed that final, minute distance between them. Sealing their mouths in a searing kiss. 

_ Mensis October. 27. 79 AD _

_ Calligula _ wheezed on the ash thickened air. Sometime along the road the pair had lost their way in the ash and smoke, both bore down heavily upon Kylo’s shoulders and the stallion’s flanks. 

Cal’s footfalls were heavy, he was growing weak and needed water. But the only stream they had come across was tainted and poisoned. More deadly than even the air.

Surely, Kylo Ren thought, they had passed through the fold of the mortal plane and into the dwelling of  _ Dis Pater _ . It was  _ Orcus _ that surrounded them now. The underworld brought alive on earth. 

Ash. He knew now that the strange, black snow was ash falling from the sky. He wondered if the very dome of the earth had gone up in flames. 

He remembered that promise he’d made, the day before their beach trip. He remembered how fiercely he had sworn to always come back for her. Despite the exhaustion aching through his muscles, despite how the air seemed to leech his vitality through his ailing lungs, he pressed onward. 

Kylo Ren would find his little  _ lupa _ , or he would die trying. 

  
  


_ Mensis Sextilis. 16. 78 AD. _

The next morning the sun shone brightly through the wide windows of their bed chamber. The sheer, white curtains billowed gracefully in the flutter of the autumn breeze. Kylo awoke first, but he did not rise or stretch for fear of disturbing Rey, who had her back pressed fully into his side. She was curled forward, knees tucked to her chest, snoring softly. Her breath tickled the tips of Kylo’s fingers where his arm was trapped beneath her. 

For a long while Kylo laid very still, basking in the serene beauty of the morning. The shafts of pure sunlight that graced their bed were blissfully warm, and outside birds were singing cheerfully in the  _ hortus _ . On the breeze the faint scent of sweetbread wafted in from the kitchens. All was beautiful and bright. 

When Rey stirred, she rolled so her head was on his shoulder, stretching out her legs beneath the duvet and pressing her toes into the side of his calf. 

“Hmmm,” she made a soft rumbling sound and slowly blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was askew, lips slightly chapped from the night. Kylo let his fingers trace down her side, body now full and healthy after weeks of fine dining.

“Goodmorning,” He said dreamily. It felt like a dream, so perfect and bright with the morning sun. The room around them seemed to glow. 

Rey bent her neck to the side, cracking it loudly and shattering some of the ethereal quality of the morning. 

Kylo grinned down at her and chuckled, “Better?”

Rey raised a finger, “Wait for it…” she bent her head in the other direction, and her neck cracked even more loudly. Then she sat up and raised her arms over her head, cracking her elbows, too. 

“Now it’s better,” she declared contentedly. 

Kylo sat up beside her, resting his bare back against the headboard, “Are you ready to go to the sea today? I’ve already asked the servants to prepare us a picnic.” 

“Oh I suppose,” Rey stretched her whole body out, breasts heaving upwards beneath the thin fabric of her nightgown. Then she touched his chest, feather light, fingers tracing down the middle of his body and towards the hem of his sleeping pants, “I can think of a few things I’d enjoy more, though.” 

Cock twitching in interest, Kylo let out a huff and caught her wrist before she could delve below his waistline, “We’ll have time for that later.” 

Pushing the blankets aside he twisted to set his feet on the cool tile of the floor, “You can ride your own horse today, if you’d like. Finn’s been teaching you, I’ve been told.” 

Rey, pouting after being denied, perked up at that allotment, “Yes, he has. I’m quite good at it now. There's a mare in the stables who I prefer, she has a gentle mouth."

"Then you will ride her," Kylo Ren said, and he slipped from the warm succor of the blankets entirely. “Let’s eat breakfast and ready ourselves for the day.”

The pair dressed in light clothes, good for the warm early autumn day. They ate a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon, and flaky pastries that would sit easy in their stomachs as they rode. By the time midmorning had arrived the pair were ready to face the day. 

In the stables Rey allowed the servants to saddle her horse. A fine, purebred Arabian named Naboo. She was delicate in appearance, but Kylo knew her to be one of the finest and fastest of his mother’s herd. 

“She’s wild,” Kylo observed,  _ Calligula _ already bridled and ready at his side. “Look at the twinkle in her eyes.” 

“Well, she yields to me,” Rey replied without looking at him. She gazed at the mare dreamily. 

Kylo gave a soft chuckle, and on his next breath he whispered, “Who wouldn’t?” 

He suspected that Rey was wilder than even the mare, stronger, too, for what she had endured. 

“Are you ready to see the sea?” He asked her as they led their mounts out of the dark dinge of the stable and into the brilliant morning light. Cal pawed the earth and flared his nostrils, scenting salt on the wind. He was ready to run. Naboo was less enthusiastic, though she happily bent her nose into Rey’s hand, where she found some oats waiting for her. 

“You spoil her,” Kylo jested. 

“You spoil  _ me _ ,” Rey replied coolly, then, without any assistance, she leveraged herself up and into the saddle. Naboo shifted her shoulders and whickered softly, but otherwise gave no sign of complaint. 

Kylo followed suit, mounting up and onto the back of his massive friesian. 

“What’s his name?” Rey queried, and it was true that Kylo had never said it allowed for her to hear. 

He leaned towards her in his saddle so that the servants would not overhear his reply, “He is called  _ Calligula _ , for he is just as wild, and equally ill-tempered.” 

Rey wore a simple man’s tunic under her stola, which made riding a less awkward experience, though it was belted at the waist with a belt encrusted with silver and gold. It glittered in the sunlight. Kylo looked at her for a long moment, admiring the plain beauty of her. 

“Are you going to stare all day,  _ Dominus _ ? Or are we going to ride?” 

Kylo straightened at her challenge, and immediately heeled Cal into a brisk trot, and then a rolling canter. Putting Rey’s weeks of riding lessons to the test. 

She kept up easily, and soon the villa had vanished behind them on the rolling fields of golden grass. 

“Try to keep up!” Kylo called back to her as he leaned into Cal’s neck and the stallion galloped forward in a frenzy. 

He could hear Rey’s laughter, clear and bright as bells, ringing about behind him, followed by the quick, dull thumps of Naboo’s hooves flying over the ground. Soon enough he was staring into the mare’s sweaty flanks as she charged ahead. 

“Don’t go too far!” Kylo called, leaning back into the saddle and conceding that he had lost their race. But Rey did not stop riding, soon she was gone over the crest of a hill and from his sights. 

Kylo snorted and eased Cal back into a loping canter. There was only so far the girl could go before she reached the insurmountable obstacle that was  _ Mare Nostrum _ . 

When he spotted her again it was with the salt of the sea breeze sharp in his nose. The air was thicker as they neared the shore, heavy with the scent of the endless, timeless waves. The very same waves that had borne  _ Aeneas _ to the shores of  _ Italia _ . 

Rey had stopped her flight at the crest of a sandy dune, spotted with seagrass. And Kylo knew that once he too mounted it there would be nothing but a flat expanse of sandy, stony beach between them and the sea. Slowly, he brought Cal to stand beside Naboo, their hooves sinking strangely into the sand, causing them to shift their weights back and forth. 

In front of the pair was a narrow stripe of sand and stone and beyond it the dark, rolling waves of  _ Mare Nostrum _ . The peaks seemed to glitter beneath the midday sun, and occasionally the silver flash of a fish would breach the dark surface and flail in the daylight. 

“It’s so big,” Rey said, breathless and awestruck. “How far does it go, and you swim it?” 

Kylo shook his head, smiling. He would need to show her a map back at the villa, “No, it is far too great to swim. If you were to go south from here, after many miles, you would reach Carthage. And if you were to go west you would find the Pillars of Hercules.” 

“And beyond them?” Rey asked. 

“The end of all the known world.” 

Rey exhaled loudly, eyes locked onto the hazy horizon, “That’s terrifying. One must be very brave to dare to sail across it.” 

“I never have,” Kylo admitted. “And I never will. I don’t trust flimsy man made boats to carry me over pools so clearly formed by the gods. Neptune must lie in those depths.” 

Rey nodded in silent agreement, then she stared for a while longer, watching as seabirds swooped down and plucked fish from the water’s dark surface. 

“The day is fair,” Kylo said, eventually. “The sea breeze is fine. I say we lay out the blanket and have ourselves a picnic.” 

Then mention of food was enough to tear Rey’s attention away from the vastness of the water. 

They laid out a woven blanket over the sand, near enough to the surf they Rey could watch the little shells roll in. Inside the basket that had been packed for them awaited a light lunch of grapes and wild berries, bread and sharp cheese. In his wineskin Kylo had brought for them a sweet wine of several summer’s past. They hadn’t remembered to pack cups, so they instead took turns taking swigs from the skin. 

The sea air and the fine drink made both of them relax, and soon enough they were chatting with few reservations. 

“You said once that you had been awarded the  _ corona obsidionalis _ ,” Rey sat with her knees tucked beside her, cheeks warm from the sunlight and the wine. “Is that a good thing?” 

“Yes, very good. I saved my legion from an ambush by Germanic savages, then I held my own on the field of battle.” 

“Is Germania very cold?” Rey quizzed, taking a long drink from the wineskin.

“In winter, quite.” 

“I have heard that the men fight naked,” Rey began softly, tone leading, eyes flashing with something deeper than mere curiosity. “I have heard that the Germanic men are big…” 

Kylo balked, “Well I never really—

Rey clicked her tongue, smirking, “But I have heard that Gaulic men are bigger. We  _ meretrix _ talk, word spreads.” 

Flushing to his hairline, Kylo puffed out his cheeks, “I— you’ve  _ seen _ me, more than that actually. But I am only half Gaul, I would like to think I represent the face of Rome in all of my features.” 

“ _ Ben _ ,” Rey whispered his Gaulic name and crept toward him across the blanket. “I tire of dancing around this  _ thing  _ between us.” 

Kylo composed himself some, but the sound of his secret name on her lips had him rock hard underneath his  _ toga intima _ . He glanced left and right, but he already knew they were entirely alone on the beach. He had known they would be since the day he began planning the trip. He had been  _ planning _ for this, but now… 

“I do not wish for you to feel obligated to me, Rey. You are an exquisitely beautiful woman, and I have no desire to taint you.” 

“ _ Taint me _ ?” Rey laughed, and slid gracefully into Kylo’s lap. Her hands ran over the front of his tunic, “I have already been tainted,  _ Legatus _ . A hundred times over, by over a hundred men. I have been tainted in every way you could possibly imagine. I want  _ you _ to take that away from me, to kiss me and fuck me and make me yours so no other man can  _ ever _ claim to taint me. Only you.”

Her breath ghosted his chin and jaw, one of her fingers played with a lock of his hair, the other hand gripped tightly at the front of his tunic. Her honey eyes were wide with want and entreaty, firey and desperate all the same. 

“Here?” Kylo whispered in a breath, eyes hooded. One of his large hands settled on her waist, so small in his grip. 

“Here.” Rey affirmed, “Beneath the open sky, for all the Gods to see.”’

She let her lips brush his chin, and she adjusted herself in his lap, pressing tantalizingly against his hard cock. 

“Then let it be,” Kylo breathed, and then he captured her mouth in a searing kiss. He leaned backward on the blanket, Rey coming over him and tangling her delicate fingers into his hair as they kissed fervently. Rey’s tongue traced his lips, then pressed passed them, invading his mouth in the most exquisite way and reminding Kylo of how much more experience she had. 

Their teeth clashed, and then they parted, fingers grasping and pulling at articles of clothing. 

“Make me yours,” Rey pled needily, rolling onto her back and tugging him over her. His knee landed snug between her thighs and he could feel the heat mounting there, the physical manifestation of her need for  _ him _ . 

With one hand he shoved her  _ toga _ up and over her waist, baring her glistening cunt to him. He kissed her neck, and down along her clothed middle while his fingers teased and wetted themselves in her folds. 

“Mmm,” Rey moaned. “None of that. Where we are right now—  _ just fuck me raw _ .” 

Kylo kissed the corner of her jaw, panting hungrily into her soft skin. “You’re so wet,” he grunted, fingers pressing and curling into the vice of her cunt. 

Rey whined as his fingers stretched her, and she pawed weakly at the lower half of his own tunic, fingers tracing along the turgid line of his cock, “Fuck me,  _ gladiator _ .” 

Kylo snarled in answer, he hadn’t been called by that title in many years, but it stoked the fire within him to hear it. He had imagined their first time would be gentle, sentimental, peppered with long, slow kisses and whispered ‘I love you’s. Now it was evident that it would not be so. No. Rey wanted him to fuck her into the sand, out where all the world could see and hear them. 

He would gladly give it to her. 

Tugging himself free of his underthings he pressed the thick shaft of himself into her folds, letting the fat head of him bump teasingly up against her clit. 

Rey made a high keening noise that echoed off of the dunes. 

“I’m not even inside of you yet,” Kylo grunted, rutting himself against her. Already, he was working up a sweat under his clothes, muscles burning from the way he undulated over her. 

Rey’s ankles locked at the small of his back, urging him on more insistently, “Please,  _ Ben _ . Please put it in me. I need it. I need you.” 

Puffing out his flushed cheeks, Kylo arched his back over her, reaching between their bodies to align the thick head of his cock with her opening. He rested it there, against all of the built up wetness and sweet, slick heat, and planted his hands on either side of her on the blanket. 

“Are you ready?” He asked, softly. Allowing her one more moment of gentleness before he ravished her. 

Rey, fiery as always, nipped the pale, delicate skin of his throat, and half mad with lust whispered in his ear, “give me a baby,  _ Dominus _ .” 

_ Oh _ . Kylo’s eyes widened, cock twitching with renewed interest.  _ Oh, oh, oh _ . He hadn’t known that he needed to hear those words, and he had no idea what had prompted them but he couldn’t bring himself to care as a fresh wave of lust and desire flooded his massive body. 

He slotted himself into position once more and rocked forward with a single roll of his hips. Rey was wet, and deliciously warm, and any resistance he met he pushed past with ease, sheathing himself inside of her, bottoming out in one thrust. 

Rey keened, burying her face in his shoulder and trailing her nails down his clothed back. He set a brutal pace, their flesh slapping wetly between them as he fucked her. 

“Why,’ he panted, shutting his eyes as her cunt clenched in around him, massaging his shaft and pulling him in deeper, “why now?” 

“Always,” She could barely speak through the pleasure, eyes rolling. Under her toga her breasts bounced with each short thrust of his powerful hips, “From—  _ hah _ — you.” 

Kylo curved his massive body over her, enjoying how small she felt beneath him. For a moment he allowed himself to imagine it; his precious, beautiful Rey swollen up with his child, his son of Rome. His cock twitched inside of her and his pace increased, losing all sense of rhythm. 

“ _ Dominus _ ,” Rey begged, pushing on his shoulders and forcing him to look at her. “Please,  _ Dominus _ , fill me up.” 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Kylo panted. He could feel her cunt seizing up around him, muscles working him insistently as she neared her orgasm. Then she came, with a shout that frightened the birds off of the sea’s rolling surface. Her ankles dug into his back and her hands settled into a steady squeeze on his biceps. 

“Cum in me,” she half hissed through her climax. “ _ Cum in me cum in me cum in me. _ ” 

She intentionally squeezed him with the well trained muscles of her pussy, finally drawing his orgasm out of him. 

“Rey!” He shouted as he bottomed out, pelvic muscles tight, sac squeezing as he shuddered with each spurt. 

“ _ Yesss _ ,” Rey sighed, shutting her eyes and going limp under him. Letting him do as he willed as he worked his way through the final few waves of his climax. 

Eventually Kylo rolled off of her, collapsing onto the blanket beside her. His hand caressed down her side, righting her  _ toga _ , but not before he caught a glimpse of his cum drying between her pretty, tan thighs. 

“What was that?” Kylo panted, tucking his softening penis away. 

Rey swallowed thickly, reaching for the wineskin, “A kind of play I’ve always wanted to try, but I could never trust a client.” 

Kylo’s shoulders slumped slightly, though he wasn’t certain if it were in relief or disappointment, “Well,  _ um _ , I did  _ finish _ inside of you…” 

“I know,” Rey replied dreamily, swiping a pink drip of wine from her chin. She passed him the skin, “Wasn’t it so intense?” 

Of course the girl was still caught up on how  _ arousing  _ it had been. Kylo was already thinking more practically, there were consequences to consider, “Do we need to rush back to the villa? Do you need to take a tincture, or something?” 

Rey snorted, “ _ Or something. _ So concerned about siring a child on a whore? I wish all of my clients had been so considerate.” 

The little  _ meretrix _ sat up, stretching her arms towards the open sky, “I already take a tea, every morning with breakfast. Your mother knew what I was, could see what I was becoming to you, and she ordered it.  _ Discreetly _ , I might add. She thinks I don’t know, but I’d know the taste of that tea anywhere.” 

“Oh.” Kylo sat up beside her. The afterglow felt tainted now, spoiled by his ill-timed question. And of course his mother didn’t want him impregnating a former prostitute, but the thought of her covertly feeding Rey abortifacient tea left a foul taste in his mouth. 

For a long moment they sat in silence. Rey stared out at the sea, eyes guarded and withholding, and Kylo watched her. She was working her jaw slowly, as if pondering some unspoken question.

“I wouldn’t be ashamed, you know,” he finally spoke.

“Huh?” She turned her distant gaze on him. 

“If I sired a child with you, I wouldn’t be ashamed. You’re strong, and beautiful, and witty. I have no reason to  _ ever _ be ashamed of you.” 

A smile tugged at the corner of Rey’s mouth. She stood up, offering him a hand, “Come on then,  _ Dominus _ . Let’s go for a walk in the surf.” 

_ Mensis October. 27. 79 AD _

Kylo Ren gave up hope. The ash was a foot deep. The very air he breathed was fire in his lungs. The world was ending. And his Rey, his love, was beyond his reach. 

He collapsed at the side of the road, content to die there. 

_ Mensis September. 25. 78 AD _

They passed many moons together. Many nights spent in heat and tangled sheets as they learned each other’s bodies thoroughly. And afterwards, in that pristine afterglow, naked and curled around each other, they would talk. They talked about nothing, anything and everything, they talked about themselves, their pasts, their hopes and dreams for the future. 

Kylo told stories he had never told another living soul, stories of the torture he had endure at the coliseum. The story of how he had come to be there in the first place. The story of what he had done to the Gaulic commander Han Solo. He told stories about whores, and past lovers, and how all of them seemed like a simple prelude to this; to what he and Rey shared each night, so delicate he feared it might shatter at any moment. So precious he could not bear the thought of passing a single day without it. 

In turn Rey shared with him the abuse she had endured at the hands of Unkar Plutt. The sorry life she had lived before entering the ‘protection’ of the  _ Lupanar _ . How she had stolen and begged and finally sold her body so that she might live to see another day. She told Ben that she had thought sometimes about taking her own life, about severing her connection from the mortal coil and entering the realm of the Gods. 

When she said that he lifted her hand and kissed each of her knuckles, and then he promised she would never need to think such morbid thoughts again. He was there for her, he would be her man until the day one of them died. Beyond that even, if he could somehow manage it. 

The topic of babymaking did not arise again until the eve of the Festival of Venus Genetrix, mother of the Roman people. 

They ate dinner, a fine meal of wild deer served with herbs, cooked onions and greens. The meat was lean but tender, and the ale was golden and fine. 

After several hours spent talking with Leia and her guests, Rey and Kylo retreated to their rooms, which were blissfully quiet. 

“A bath, if you would,” Rey ordered politely of a servant. She was always gentle towards them, never short or cruel. 

“Such trivial talk makes me tired,” Rey admitted, perching on the foot of their bed while Kylo undressed. “I don’t know how you nobles do it so often, and for so long.” 

The  _ Legatus  _ shrugged off his toga, a deep red, cinched at the waist with a belt encrusted with gold and red gemstones, “It’s not to my liking, either. But if we want to warm you to the patrician class it is necessary.” 

Rey gave an exhausted sigh. Just then there was a knock at the door and a tub of steaming water was dragged in. Liquid sloshed over the sides as it settled. It was large enough for two.

“Thank you,” Rey inclined her head towards the four servants it had taken to drag it in. Then she produced several  _ denarii  _ from her clothing and gave one to each man. 

“ _ Domina _ ,” one said, and they all bowed their heads gratefully before briskly exiting the room. 

“I think my partial nudity unnerved them,” Kylo smirked, and he flexed his broad pecs for emphasis. 

Rey rolled her eyes and glided towards him. Her fingers caught in the ties of his underthings and she looked up at him, eyes sparkling, “Anyone would be unnerved, you’re massive,  _ Dominus _ .” 

A low rumble emanated from his chest, “You are not nearly as naked as I am, little  _ lupa _ . Do you intend to bathe fully clothed?”

Rey made a show of undressing for him, Peeling away each garment with care until her breasts were peaked in the chill air of the room and her neatly trimmed quim was on full display for him. Then she slipped beneath the water, letting it swallow her up wholly; calves, supple thighs, peachy ass and pert breasts. 

Kylo followed her in much less seductively. 

They took their time bathing one another, lathering and caressing each panel of the other’s body, cleaning and soaking each other’s hair. 

By the end of it Rey’s body was alight from the teasing, she sat in his lap, kissing his throat while she stroked his erection under the water. 

Face pink from the steam and with lust, Kylo murmured into her hair, “Let’s go to bed, my love.” 

Rey hummed in agreement. She dropped his cock and slipped from the tub, dripping water onto the floor. Kylo followed her out, large hand caressing her ass as he stepped past her to gather some towels. 

“Gods I wish you could see how utterly stunning you are,” Kylo said as he watched her dry off. 

Rey finished and let her towel drop to the floor. She climbed onto the bed, balancing on her knees, facing her lover, “We always do the same old boring position.” 

Kylo scowled, “Am I boring in bed?” 

“You have a massive prick,  _ Dominus _ . But it’s always me on my back and you overtop of me. Why don’t we try something different tonight?” 

“How different?” He asked, hesitant.

Rey laughed, light and beautiful, like a birdsong, “What exactly do you think I got up to in that  _ Lupanar _ , Kylo? Nothing unconventional, I promise.” 

Before he could answer her she spun around and went down on her knees, wagging her rear at him teasingly. 

“Fuck me like this,” she entreated. He could see the glisten to her cunt, she was already wet. “You’ll have more control.” 

“But I can’t see your breasts,” he pouted. 

Rey laughed again, this time muffled by the linens, “Just fuck me already, you big oaf. I can see that you’re hard.” 

It was true. He was already very hard, achingly so, because her tight ass and wet cunt were currently on full display and he had nowhere else to look. Kylo huffed in feigned obstinance and climbed up on the bed behind her. His knees dipped under his weight, and he found himself perfectly level with Rey’s ass. 

Unable to resist himself, he smacked it. Eliciting a yelp and then a giggle from Rey. He looked down the smooth curve of her spine, up to where she peeked over her shoulder at him, eyes inviting. 

“ _ Alright _ ,” He relented, as if there had ever been a doubt that he would fuck her like this. He took himself in hand, giving his shaft a few testing strokes before pressing the head of his cock against the wet warmth of her cunt. 

“Are you ready for me?” 

Rey’s fingers curled into the sheets, her knees quivered with anticipation, “Always.” 

With a grunt Kylo seated himself in one smooth movement, meeting no resistance along the way as her wetness aided him forward. He huffed, gripping her waist and taking a long moment to simply  _ feel _ her. 

“Gods help me,” He leaned over her back to mouth soft kisses over the notches of her spine. “You’re so fucking tight,  _ Domina _ .” 

Rey pressed her hips back and against him. 

“ _ Move _ ,” she hissed, so he did. 

He took his time at first, feeling her out, enjoying the way her ass jiggled with each jilting thrust he delivered. Her cunt was a dream, tighter than a fist and perfectly wet. Some of his leisurely control slipping, he began to fuck her harder. Punching little noises out of her as his hips switched. 

Rey mumbled something into the sheets. 

“Speak up,” Kylo panted. A drip of sweat trailed down from his temple. He dropped one foot to the floor to gain better leverage and fuck her harder. 

“I—  _ fuck _ — I said fuck a baby into me,  _ Legatus _ . Make me—  _ right there—  _ make me a Legion whore.”

This. It hadn’t come up since their first time together, but Gods help him if it didn’t light a fire in his loins. The thought of Rey, breasts heavy because of  _ him _ . Belly swollen because  _ he _ had staked  _ his  _ claim on her in the most thorough way a man could. 

He reached forward, tangling a hand into her hair and angling her head back so he could kiss her neck, “Is that what you want?” 

“Y—yes!” 

He jackknifed into her, the wet slap of their flesh echoing through the room, “You want me to cum inside of you, little  _ lupa _ ?” 

“Yes! Yes, please.  _ Yes _ ,” she was half sobbing into the linens, cunt tight as a vice around his cock. 

“Beg me,” he slowed his thrusting despite the peak he’d been about to ride. His cock throbbed and ached, so he sank it deeper into Rey’s pussy, slapping her ass. “Beg me for it.” 

“Please,  _ Dominus _ ,” Rey began, she pressed her face into the sheets so her words were muffled. “Please—  _ Gods you’re so deep _ — please cum in me,  _ Dominus. _ Fill me up. Give me a baby.” 

Kylo grunted, leaning over her back and picking up his pace again. He pressed down on her with his chest so that he was flush to her shoulders and could kiss her jaw and her neck as he worked himself to climax. One of his hands slid down the front of Rey’s body, seeking out her clit. When he found it he began to circle it vigorously in time with his thrusting. 

“Good,” he exhaled into her hair. “Such a good little  _ lupa _ for me. Are you ready for me to give you a baby, my love?”

She was very close, cunt pulsing rhymically around him, she nodded and hiccuped into her folded arms, “ _ Yes _ .” 

Kylo went back up on his knees, tugging at her waist and sinking in as deeply as he could with each thrust. Rey was working her own clit now, wet sounds emanating from the contact. 

“‘m almost there,” Kylo slurred, delirious with pleasure. 

Rey squeaked and tumbled over the edge without warning. Her legs began to shake and she fucked herself furiously back onto Kylo as he helped her through it. He rubbed a hand soothingly over her back as she shrieked her climax into the pillows. 

It was only once Rey was finished, limp and panting under him, pussy settled into a constant, tight squeeze that Kylo delivered a few final, brutal thrusts and painted her inner walls with his cum. 

“Fuck!” He shouted, undoubtedly waking half the house. 

When he was through he collapsed onto the blankets beside her, crushing her to his chest and pressing his lips to her hair. 

The secrets they often shared after their lovemaking, they had provided some much needed context since the last time this had happened. Rey’s future, all she wanted was a family. 

“I’m going to stop drinking that tea,” Rey said softly, voice small, like she was afraid. 

“Okay,” Kylo answered gently, and he ducked his head to kiss her mouth. 

When they parted she tucked her head under his chin, “Will you be embarrassed, your only child will be with a whore.” 

“I’d marry you tomorrow if you wanted,” Kylo replied. “You’re the only woman I ever want children with. You’re the only woman I need in my life.” 

Rey was quiet for a few moments after that, her silence pensive. Then, so softly he almost missed it, she whispered, “I love you, Kylo.” 

He held her tighter, crushing her to his body.

“I love you, too.” 

_ Mensis October. 27. 79 AD _

They came through the darkness, a sombre, black parade. The lanterns they carried were dulled to the point of uselessness by the ash. All of their cloaks were stained dull and grey. 

A strange, wintery stillness had overcome the landscape. Sounds muffled in the ashfall as if it were snow. So the steady squeak of a wagon wheel alarmed Kylo from his place, jolting him from the plot of earth on which he had chosen to die. 

_ Calligula  _ snorted and pawed at the ash, and slowly, Kylo Ren rose to his feet. 

They were travellers, coming north out of the desolation. Survivors. 

Hope bloomed in his chest, and he quickly mounted Cal, spurring the stallion to move along the column of slow moving bodies. 

They passed a wagon full of wounded people. Some sobbed from their burns, others were burnt too badly to cry. 

He plodded along, winding in and out of the line, hope dying with each face he beheld that wasn’t Rey’s. Then he saw her, still bright despite the endless immolation that surrounded them, the face of a white arabian mare. Dirty, yes, but unmistakably Naboo as she moved with wildness in each step, unbent by her ordeal. 

“Rey!” Kylo shouted, coming undone. 

The hooded figure on the mare’s back looked up, and he could see through the ash that she was swollen under her cloak. 

“Kylo?” The girl said, her voice was hoarse and full of disbelief. 

Kylo rushed to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Word Bank**
> 
> Aureus - gold unit of money
> 
> Avus - Grandfather (the way Rey uses it is playful and would be more accurately translated as ‘grandpa’)
> 
> Dominus/Domina - Master/Mistress
> 
> Denarii - Plural for silver unit of money
> 
> Gold crown/corona aurea - a crown awarded to Centurions for winning single combat or holding ground until the end of a battle
> 
> Grass crown/corona obsidionalis - Highest of military decorations. It was awarded to a general or officer whose actions saved their legion (or the entire army)
> 
> Gladius - Roman sword
> 
> House of Julia Felix - An estate in Pompeii, part of which was rented out as apartments
> 
> Hortus - Roman Garden
> 
> Legatus - High ranking officer in the Roman army
> 
> Leno - Pimp
> 
> Lupa - she-wolf (slang for prostitute)
> 
> Lupanar - brothel
> 
> Mare Nostrum - literally "our sea", the Mediterranean 
> 
> Meretrix - a registered prostitute
> 
> Tunica Intima - Light tunic often worn beneath the stola
> 
> **Comments really do inspire me to keep writing <3**

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: [x](https://twitter.com/bitt3rbones)
> 
> Tumblr: [x](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/sordidbones)


End file.
